The office visit of this inspection took place on 19 July 2018 and was announced.

Bluewood Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of this inspection the service supported four people with personal care and employed four care staff.

This was the first inspection of the service following their registration with us in November 2017.

A requirement of the provider’s registration is that they have a registered manager. There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People felt safe using the service and there were enough staff to provide the care and support people required. People received care from staff they knew and who arrived around the time expected. Staff had completed safeguarding training and understood how to keep people safe from avoidable harm and abuse.

Risks to people’s safety were identified and assessments completed to provide guidance for staff about how to reduce or manage the risk. The provider’s recruitment procedures made sure staff were safe to work with people who used the service. People received their prescribed medicines from staff who had completed training to do this safely.

People had an assessment completed at the start of their service to make sure staff could meet their care and support needs. Staff received an induction when they started working for the service and completed training that provided them with the skills and knowledge to support people’s needs. When needed, arrangements were in place to support people to have enough to eat and drink and remain in good health.

People's right to make their own decisions about their care were supported by the registered manager and staff who understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act. Staff asked for people’s consent before they provided care and respected decisions people made about their care and support.

People received care from staff who they considered to be kind and caring, and who stayed long enough to provide the care and support people required. Staff knew people well as they visited the same people regularly. Staff promoted people’s privacy and dignity and people received care and support which was individual to them.

Care plans provided information for staff about people’s individual preferences and care needs. Plans were regularly reviewed and people said the service was flexible and responsive to their needs. People knew how to complain, and information about making a complaint was available for people.

The registered manager and provider used feedback from people to assist them in making improvements to the service. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and said they had regular individual meetings and observations of their practice to make sure they carried these out safely. There were some processes for assessing and monitoring the quality of the service but record keeping and overall governance required improvement. The provider acknowledged they would need to continually review and develop their current systems if the size of the agency was to increase.